What is shopping cart software
shopping cart software is software used in e-commerce . Shopping cart software enables customers or visitors to the store to add items to their shopping basket or cart. Once the customer makes the decision to purchase the products the shopping cart software will calculate the total of the order, determine where the product is to be shipped and charge the appropriate amount for that shipping. It can also charge taxes if applicable.
Good shopping cart software should be able to capture a customer’s payment method or information. In the event a customer uses a credit card, the shopping cart software should be able to communicate the cart details or order to a secure payment gateway. The gateway will then capture the money securely off the credit card and deposit it in the merchants account. The shopping cart software must be installed on a secure server that can handle sensitive ordering information
Simple shopping carts allow for an item to be added to the basket to start the checkout process (free paypal) and more advanced shopping cart software should provide additional features to manage customers and products, such as e-newsletters, discounts, customers and orders ,promo codes and “email this product to a friend” . This information is stored in a database and accessed in realtime by the software
There are 2 part to the shopping cart, the shop front and the administration area.
Shop Front - this is the area of the website that the customers access, they can browse by category or do a search for a specific product, the then add product to their cart and checkout.
Administration - this is the area of the website that is accessed by the shop owner to manage the shopping cart. This is the area where the owner can add and delete products, manage inventory and sales.
Licensed Shopping Carts vs. Hosted Solutions
Licensed shopping carts - this shopping cart software is downloaded and then installed on server. There is usually a one time fee, although there are many free products available as well. The merchant owns a license and can host it on any server that meets the server. Knowledge of editing source code is usually a requirement, and the ability to use ftp
Hosted Solutions - The software is not downloaded. It is provided by a hosted service provider. It is generally paid for on a monthly or annual basis. Using this model of shopping cart, the engine of the shopping cart will remain the same and the designer can customize a look and feel unique to the customer. The advantage of using a hosted solution is that no knowledge of html or coding is required. The customer generally need basic word processing skills to manage their shopping cart. The hosted service provider will continuously keep the software up to date for security patches as well as adding new features added.